Posted on 04/23/2010 4:06:46 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
Dissidents in the world's most oppressive countries aren't feeling the love from President Obama.
No one seems to know precisely who is behind the "Miss Me Yet?" billboardthe cheeky one featuring a grinning George W. Bush that looks out over I-35 near Wyoming, Minn. But Syrian dissident Ahed Al-Hendi sympathizes with the thought.
In 2006, Mr. Hendi was browsing pro-democracy Web sites in a Damascus Internet café when plainclothes cops carrying automatic guns swooped in, cuffed him, and threw him into the trunk of a car. He spent over a month in prison, some of it alone in a 5-by-3 windowless basement cell where he listened to his friend being tortured in the one next door. Those screams, he says, were cold comfortat least he knew his friend hadn't been killed.
Mr. Hendi was one of the lucky ones: He's now living in Maryland as a political refugee where he works for an organization called Cyberdissidents.org. And this past Monday, he joined other international dissidents at a conference sponsored by the Bush Institute at Southern Methodist University to discuss the way digital tools can be used to resist repressive regimes.
He also got to meet the 43rd president. In a private breakfast hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Bush, Mr. Hendi's message to the former president was simple: "We miss you." There have been "a lot of changes" under the current administration, he added, and not for the better.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Dick Cheney might agree with me.
And you're right. They are unhappy, and no one will ever meet their 'standards' of conservatism.
He knows more than we, the character and integrity of the man who led this country for eight years.
And in some ways, the President was more conservative than the VP.
But those of us who don't judge the quality of a man or woman based on some standard of conservative "perfection" respect both men greatly.
It's called perspective.
Whoa! I was just asking for explanation! I understand that a lot of conservatives lost faith in him and I am quite familiar with what he did—I just wanted clarification from you as to your statement.
Right on, dmd25!
Great reply, ohioWfan! Better than mine. :)
In the coming years, President Bush will be doing great things to promote liberty, and he deserves the respect of all those who believe in freedom.
Funny, he heard, thanked and hugged me for what I said to him. And absolutely continued doing what I asked of him.
Perhaps you are referring to the unreal, real people.
Thousands of photos attest to that communication and connection.
Don't know how anyone missed ALL of them.....
Watch Obama, he and his goons know how to overcome the opposition. Too bad we didn't when we could have!
It has nothing to do with whether or not he connected with or listened to real people.
He listened, he studied, he consulted, he prayed, and then he did what he thought was best. It's what good Presidents do.
I may just check these out. :)
I'm not so sure about that. Many agreed with him far more than they could let on publicly. There was a reason Canada, France, Germany and Italy elected conservative leaders that aligned with President Bush.
There is a reason the Dalai Lama said he loved President Bush. Tony Blair and President Bush were great friends, not to mention President Bush's close friendships with PM John Howard, of Australia and the former PM Koizumi of Japan. There are many others.
Thank you kindly! I’ve been avoiding answering these posters, but this one begged a reply. So I just couldn’t resist! ;)
Ha! It is an arduous task, but they must keep their battle cry alive.
DING...DING...DING! We have a winner!
Making one wonder why anyone works so hard to keep thinking poorly of such a good man when they are so obviously in error.....
I wonder why it is we feel the need to always begin compliments of this great man with GWB made some mistakes type remarks...
I once kept a file on the qualifers inserted before saying anything good about President Bush. When it became a full-time job, I gave up.
Some that I can remember:
I could say allot of negatives about George Bush, but...
I didn't always agree with President Bush, but...
He did a lot of things I didn't like, but...
He can't talk, but...
I didn't agree with the President 100% of the time, but...
I often asked who they had ever agreed with 100% of the time, but .....
I never received an answer.
I have come up with a theory on that very thing. One I will share in private at a later date.
Must run a couple of errands now.
All I ask for is unwavering defense of the Constitution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.